Closure of the National Archives at San Francisco
CISSA STATEMENT AND CALL TO ACTION
8/10/26
On June 23, 2026, it was announced that the National Archives at San Francisco in San Bruno, CA, will close. Employees were told the closure will take place over several years, but inside sources indicate materials will be moved beginning August 2026. Others indicate that materials will be relocated to a facility in Missouri, functionally closing the records off to the public.
The CISSA Council of Leadership strongly condemns this closure, which puts irreplaceable archival materials and Native histories at risk. NARA San Bruno holds a mass of records related to Native peoples in California, Nevada, the Pacific Northwest, Hawai’i, and more. The CISSA Council of Leadership considers this closure especially threatening to our organization’s purpose of promoting, producing, and disseminating California Indian-related research and pedagogical strategies.
NARA San Bruno is home to the 1968 California Indian Judgement Fund Roll (CIJF) applications. These rolls are an archive created by and filled with testimonies of California Indian peoples about their connection to place, their traditions and languages, and their memories of family. CIJF documents are critical for people of California Indian descent and are used today in various capacities for tribal enrollment, Indian health services, and educational scholarships. While the applications for the 1933 California Indian Census rolls are available online through the National Archives Catalog, these later applications have not been digitized. NARA San Bruno also holds the Stewart Indian School records and the Greenville Indian School records, including individual student files. Indian census records, Indian Agency records, and various documents related to Native peoples from roughly the last hundred years are also part of NARA San Bruno’s collection. Few of the records are digitized and only available to view in person.
Materials held by the National Archives are meant to be public and accessible. The closure of NARA San Bruno means researchers and descendants will be closed off from these vital historical sources. We ask that CISSA members and the greater Native community, including Tribal Nations, join us in pushing back against the impending closure of the facility. While this story has made national headlines, and some are fighting it, the closure has yet to be stopped. Time is of the essence.
How can you help?
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Kevin Mullin
San Mateo County Office Washington, DC Office
1528 S. El Camino Real Suite 307 1404 Longworth House Office Building
San Mateo, CA 94402 Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (650) 342-0300 Phone: (202) 225-3531
The CISSA Council of Leadership strongly condemns this closure, which puts irreplaceable archival materials and Native histories at risk. NARA San Bruno holds a mass of records related to Native peoples in California, Nevada, the Pacific Northwest, Hawai’i, and more. The CISSA Council of Leadership considers this closure especially threatening to our organization’s purpose of promoting, producing, and disseminating California Indian-related research and pedagogical strategies.
NARA San Bruno is home to the 1968 California Indian Judgement Fund Roll (CIJF) applications. These rolls are an archive created by and filled with testimonies of California Indian peoples about their connection to place, their traditions and languages, and their memories of family. CIJF documents are critical for people of California Indian descent and are used today in various capacities for tribal enrollment, Indian health services, and educational scholarships. While the applications for the 1933 California Indian Census rolls are available online through the National Archives Catalog, these later applications have not been digitized. NARA San Bruno also holds the Stewart Indian School records and the Greenville Indian School records, including individual student files. Indian census records, Indian Agency records, and various documents related to Native peoples from roughly the last hundred years are also part of NARA San Bruno’s collection. Few of the records are digitized and only available to view in person.
Materials held by the National Archives are meant to be public and accessible. The closure of NARA San Bruno means researchers and descendants will be closed off from these vital historical sources. We ask that CISSA members and the greater Native community, including Tribal Nations, join us in pushing back against the impending closure of the facility. While this story has made national headlines, and some are fighting it, the closure has yet to be stopped. Time is of the essence.
How can you help?
- Spread the word and contact your Tribal Nation to inform them of this impending closure
- Join the efforts of the grassroots organization Save Our National Archives (SONA), which has worked to maintain public access to collections at San Bruno since 1998
- Express your opposition by writing to Edward Forst and Kevin Mullin. CC your Congressional representatives and ask them to take immediate action
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Kevin Mullin
San Mateo County Office Washington, DC Office
1528 S. El Camino Real Suite 307 1404 Longworth House Office Building
San Mateo, CA 94402 Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (650) 342-0300 Phone: (202) 225-3531
ABOLISH ICE!!!
1/27/2026
We, the CISSA Council of Leadership, are outraged by the federal government’s deployment of thousands of ICE agents in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States. ICE agents are, at this very moment, terrorizing immigrant communities, communities of color, and Indigenous peoples with unbridled force and impunity. We condemn the white supremacist violence of this fascist settler state and join the many voices demanding that ICE be abolished.
In an abhorrent demonstration of the agency’s brutality and lack of accountability, ICE agents have killed 9 people just 3 weeks into the year. The public murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis and Keith Porter in Northridge, California are tragic reminders that no one, regardless of citizenship status, is safe when fascists march in the streets. In keeping with the United States’ long colonial legacy of child removal, ICE agents are also targeting children and actively abducting them from schools. Being detained and incarcerated in ICE facilities is just as deadly as encounters with ICE agents in our communities. As in any prison, ICE facilities have deplorable conditions and are rife with physical and sexual violence perpetrated against prisoners by their jailers; 32 people were reportedly killed in ICE facilities in 2025. We collectively denounce ICE and all fascists!
We also recognize that policing Native peoples and removing them from their land and relations through incarceration is foundational for the territorial sovereignty and occupation of settler states like the U.S. The recent arrest and detainment of four members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Minneapolis reveals the centrality of white supremacist violence to the ongoing U.S. occupation of Indigenous homelands. It is not surprising that Native people are being terrorized by ICE. Our refusal to disappear is a threat to the future of the U.S. settler empire, may it always be so.
Abolish ICE!
https://narf.org/ice-resources-2026/
We, the CISSA Council of Leadership, are outraged by the federal government’s deployment of thousands of ICE agents in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States. ICE agents are, at this very moment, terrorizing immigrant communities, communities of color, and Indigenous peoples with unbridled force and impunity. We condemn the white supremacist violence of this fascist settler state and join the many voices demanding that ICE be abolished.
In an abhorrent demonstration of the agency’s brutality and lack of accountability, ICE agents have killed 9 people just 3 weeks into the year. The public murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis and Keith Porter in Northridge, California are tragic reminders that no one, regardless of citizenship status, is safe when fascists march in the streets. In keeping with the United States’ long colonial legacy of child removal, ICE agents are also targeting children and actively abducting them from schools. Being detained and incarcerated in ICE facilities is just as deadly as encounters with ICE agents in our communities. As in any prison, ICE facilities have deplorable conditions and are rife with physical and sexual violence perpetrated against prisoners by their jailers; 32 people were reportedly killed in ICE facilities in 2025. We collectively denounce ICE and all fascists!
We also recognize that policing Native peoples and removing them from their land and relations through incarceration is foundational for the territorial sovereignty and occupation of settler states like the U.S. The recent arrest and detainment of four members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Minneapolis reveals the centrality of white supremacist violence to the ongoing U.S. occupation of Indigenous homelands. It is not surprising that Native people are being terrorized by ICE. Our refusal to disappear is a threat to the future of the U.S. settler empire, may it always be so.
Abolish ICE!
https://narf.org/ice-resources-2026/
Abolish ICE and Free Mahmoud Khalil!
We, the members of California Indians for Palestinian Liberation and CISSA, condemn the arrest and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student. As an organization made up of California Indian educators, community members, artists, cultural bearers, and activists we are deeply disturbed by the suppression of free speech on the Columbia University campus and college campuses everywhere at the behest of wealthy donors and the so-called United States.
The use of ICE officers, deportation, and detainment is an intimidation strategy deployed by a fascist state to quell pro-Palestinian activism. Threatening Khalil with deportation while he and his wife are preparing for their first child is particularly incriminating since terrorizing Palestinian parents with removal from their children is a longstanding tactic enacted by Israel. We also recognize that targeting Palestinian student activists in the U.S. is part of the scholasticide in Palestine where students, teachers, and the very structure of the universities have been viciously attacked. We see a parallel between Khalil’s abduction by ICE and the abduction of scores of Palestinian students by Israel in the West Bank. As the legitimate sovereigns of our homelands currently under occupation by California, we reject the state’s authority to abduct and deport immigrants and refugees.
We are not distracted by the narratives seeking to prove Mahmoud Khalil’s guilt or innocence. We find the United States guilty of enabling Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and of supporting genocide domestically by extending fascist policing into universities. We urge California Indian tribal governments, elected leaders, gubernatorial appointees, community members, and our allies to not continue with business as usual during this moment of heightened fascist repression.
Free Mahmoud Khalil!
The use of ICE officers, deportation, and detainment is an intimidation strategy deployed by a fascist state to quell pro-Palestinian activism. Threatening Khalil with deportation while he and his wife are preparing for their first child is particularly incriminating since terrorizing Palestinian parents with removal from their children is a longstanding tactic enacted by Israel. We also recognize that targeting Palestinian student activists in the U.S. is part of the scholasticide in Palestine where students, teachers, and the very structure of the universities have been viciously attacked. We see a parallel between Khalil’s abduction by ICE and the abduction of scores of Palestinian students by Israel in the West Bank. As the legitimate sovereigns of our homelands currently under occupation by California, we reject the state’s authority to abduct and deport immigrants and refugees.
We are not distracted by the narratives seeking to prove Mahmoud Khalil’s guilt or innocence. We find the United States guilty of enabling Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and of supporting genocide domestically by extending fascist policing into universities. We urge California Indian tribal governments, elected leaders, gubernatorial appointees, community members, and our allies to not continue with business as usual during this moment of heightened fascist repression.
Free Mahmoud Khalil!
CISSA's Statement on Palestine
October 18, 2023
CISSA condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the genocidal actions and policies of Israel towards the Indigenous Palestinian people. As the Indigenous peoples of California, we know all too well the devastating effects of settler colonial occupation on our lands, bodies, and worlds. We also know that settler states justify their genocidal violence by demonizing those who survive and resist. We are not fooled by the Zionist propaganda in the media which attempts to decontextualize Palestinian acts of resistance and ignores the 75 years of violent occupation by the state of Israel. We echo the call that many others have made to hold the state of Israel accountable for all of the violence committed on Palestinian land in addition to all acts of terror committed against Palestinians during the long occupation.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s recent (since deleted) statement that, “There is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle,” perfectly encapsulates the settler colonial logics of civility and civilization in which the agency of violence is projected onto the dehumanized targets of colonialism who are then eradicated through what Samera Esmeir calls the “violence of non-violence.” This is furthered by the violence of normalization in which the media and contemporary discourse, at best, balance decades of colonial and incommensurable violence towards an occupied people against their struggles for survival and freedom, but usually condemns insurgent actions as decontextualized “terrorism,” calling for violent retribution. As Esmeir writes in a recent article, "...perhaps we need to think more about the making of the figure of the civilian and the notion of civilian normalcy, the territorial and discursive conditions that go into cultivating civilian lives, and their unequal distribution. The civilian ethos, as a matter of liberal sensibility, requires innocence, political passivity, lack of movement, and fixity. In the eyes of the liberal, civilized West, the civilian must be pacified, passive, and blameless and must reject rebellion." CISSA refuses the logics and languages of civilization that have led to the deaths of millions during the global colonial project and which Israel and its leaders and defenders articulate now to justify the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. As David Lloyd asserts, "... whatever the ‘barbarism’ of armed insurgents, the truly brutal and barbarous evil is the civilized violence of the modern colonial state."
The blatant dehumanization of Palestinians by Israel’s Prime Minister and the Israeli military attacks on civilian homes and hospitals in Gaza demonstrate the urgent need for statements and actions of solidarity. Collective cries of solidarity with Palestinians, big or small, undermine Israel’s occupation of their homelands and bolsters their struggle for freedom. Further, it counters the long campaign to suppress any dissent or support for Palestinians, using the charge of anti-semitism, a coordinated effort that has the material support of the state of Israel. Together with a mass disinformation campaign regarding Hamas' incursion into Israel and Israel’s current and past genocidal acts, these conditions make all who support an end to the occupation and speak the truth about Israel's long history of colonial violence vulnerable, but, as with any popular movement, protection comes in numbers. While we are called upon to mourn those martyred by Israel, past and present, CISSA also follows the calls from Palestinians to attend to the dream of their liberation. Images of the destruction of colonial borders, of the flight of Gazans (breaking the border in the sky), and the promise of return have galvanized the Palestinian people and other colonized peoples around the globe. The Palestinian struggle is our struggle. The dream of a free Palestine, from the river to the sea, is the dream of a world without colonialism. We support Palestinians' ethical and spiritual imperative to defend themselves and their lands. Palestinians have the right to return. Palestinians have the right to live. CISSA stands in solidarity with Palestine.
Please also read these statements by the Union of Teachers & Employees of Birzeit University and the UC Riverside chapter of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), which we support fully. (click images for links)
CISSA condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the genocidal actions and policies of Israel towards the Indigenous Palestinian people. As the Indigenous peoples of California, we know all too well the devastating effects of settler colonial occupation on our lands, bodies, and worlds. We also know that settler states justify their genocidal violence by demonizing those who survive and resist. We are not fooled by the Zionist propaganda in the media which attempts to decontextualize Palestinian acts of resistance and ignores the 75 years of violent occupation by the state of Israel. We echo the call that many others have made to hold the state of Israel accountable for all of the violence committed on Palestinian land in addition to all acts of terror committed against Palestinians during the long occupation.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s recent (since deleted) statement that, “There is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle,” perfectly encapsulates the settler colonial logics of civility and civilization in which the agency of violence is projected onto the dehumanized targets of colonialism who are then eradicated through what Samera Esmeir calls the “violence of non-violence.” This is furthered by the violence of normalization in which the media and contemporary discourse, at best, balance decades of colonial and incommensurable violence towards an occupied people against their struggles for survival and freedom, but usually condemns insurgent actions as decontextualized “terrorism,” calling for violent retribution. As Esmeir writes in a recent article, "...perhaps we need to think more about the making of the figure of the civilian and the notion of civilian normalcy, the territorial and discursive conditions that go into cultivating civilian lives, and their unequal distribution. The civilian ethos, as a matter of liberal sensibility, requires innocence, political passivity, lack of movement, and fixity. In the eyes of the liberal, civilized West, the civilian must be pacified, passive, and blameless and must reject rebellion." CISSA refuses the logics and languages of civilization that have led to the deaths of millions during the global colonial project and which Israel and its leaders and defenders articulate now to justify the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. As David Lloyd asserts, "... whatever the ‘barbarism’ of armed insurgents, the truly brutal and barbarous evil is the civilized violence of the modern colonial state."
The blatant dehumanization of Palestinians by Israel’s Prime Minister and the Israeli military attacks on civilian homes and hospitals in Gaza demonstrate the urgent need for statements and actions of solidarity. Collective cries of solidarity with Palestinians, big or small, undermine Israel’s occupation of their homelands and bolsters their struggle for freedom. Further, it counters the long campaign to suppress any dissent or support for Palestinians, using the charge of anti-semitism, a coordinated effort that has the material support of the state of Israel. Together with a mass disinformation campaign regarding Hamas' incursion into Israel and Israel’s current and past genocidal acts, these conditions make all who support an end to the occupation and speak the truth about Israel's long history of colonial violence vulnerable, but, as with any popular movement, protection comes in numbers. While we are called upon to mourn those martyred by Israel, past and present, CISSA also follows the calls from Palestinians to attend to the dream of their liberation. Images of the destruction of colonial borders, of the flight of Gazans (breaking the border in the sky), and the promise of return have galvanized the Palestinian people and other colonized peoples around the globe. The Palestinian struggle is our struggle. The dream of a free Palestine, from the river to the sea, is the dream of a world without colonialism. We support Palestinians' ethical and spiritual imperative to defend themselves and their lands. Palestinians have the right to return. Palestinians have the right to live. CISSA stands in solidarity with Palestine.
Please also read these statements by the Union of Teachers & Employees of Birzeit University and the UC Riverside chapter of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), which we support fully. (click images for links)
Who We Are
The California Indian Studies and Scholars Association (CISSA) is a decolonial organization consisting of California Indian people committed to the intellectual and cultural sovereignty of California Indian Studies and scholarship. The purpose of CISSA is to support and increase exchange of the diversity of knowledge of California Indian perspectives and ways of knowing of the over two hundred sovereign tribal nations Indigenous to what is currently called California. Our purpose is to identify, develop, and implement Native California-focused curricula, to promote, produce and disseminate California Indian-related research and pedagogical strategies and to support the continued growth of California Indian Studies.
We honor the legacy of California Indian intellectualism that has existed for time immemorial by dismantling ongoing colonial and imperial projects and building critical, theoretical, and community-minded praxis for California Indian futures. We are a collaborative, community centered organization that values integrity, reciprocity, relationships, respect and responsibility. We understand this intellectual project to be nothing short of safeguarding California Indian lives, lands and futures.
Learn more about our history and current CISSA members.
We honor the legacy of California Indian intellectualism that has existed for time immemorial by dismantling ongoing colonial and imperial projects and building critical, theoretical, and community-minded praxis for California Indian futures. We are a collaborative, community centered organization that values integrity, reciprocity, relationships, respect and responsibility. We understand this intellectual project to be nothing short of safeguarding California Indian lives, lands and futures.
Learn more about our history and current CISSA members.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can become a member? |
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Check out our membership statement. California Indian academics, independent and tribal scholars, artists, and cultural workers should join us. We are particularly invested in supporting California Indian graduate students and other aspiring scholars and artists.
How do I become a member? |
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Fill out our membership form. The link can be found on the Join CISSA page.
Is there a membership fee? What does being a CISSA member mean? |
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Membership in CISSA is free and gives you access to all communications from CISSA, a vote as a member of the general assembly, visibility on our website, and an active say in the collective direction of our association. Membership in CISSA is also a commitment to take part in the organization's collective project of realizing a decolonial vision through one's scholarship, practice, or expertise as a California Indian scholar.
What if I have other questions? |
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Connect with us.
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Pedagogical Resources
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Click image above for educational materials from the
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CISSA Inaugural Conference at UC Santa Cruz (2023)
CISSA at American Studies Association (2022):
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CISSA Symposium (2022):
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